Inciting the Mob

Recent political rallies held by the McCain/Palin campaign have incited mob like crowds to erupt in hateful and racially based threats toward Obama.Some rally members, picking up on Palin’s false charge that Obama “pals around with terrorists” shouted “terrorist” and “kill him” while rally members at another event insulted a black camera person filming the audience.

The terrorist that Obama is supposed to be friends with is reformed anti-Vietnam war protestor William Ayers, who was formerly a member of the 1960s Weather Underground.Obama’s relationship with Ayers is restricted to a meet and greet hosted by the Ayers’ in 1990, a $200 campaign contribution made by Ayers to Obama’s senate campaign, and mutual service as board members for the not-for-profit Woods Fund of Chicago.

Palin, especially, has been using Obama’s familiarity with Ayers to try and tie him to terrorism. This type of irresponsible rhetoric has led to mob incitement, and is being used to whip crowds already bent toward disliking Obama into a toxic frenzy.

If one listens to the crowd comments at an Ohio rally, as they make suggestions that Obama’s name and “bloodlines” tie him to terrorism, one gets a real sense of the deep levels of racism and suspicion that the McCain/Palin campaign has attempted to incite and exploit.

In this video McCain incites the crowd to shout “kill him” when asking the crowd “who is the real” Obama?

Keith Olbermann comments on the acrid nature of recent McCain Palin events, and reports that the Secret Service is investigating homicidal remarks made about Obama at one Republican rally.

Rachel Maddow shows how the hateful invectives are bleeding into local elections, and covers crowd reaction to John McCain’s attempt to calm the rhetoric.She also covers how the McCain campaign dragged its feet in responding to these issues.

McCain and Palin should both be ashamed for using such hateful and false rhetoric that fuels ignorance and bigotry.One can only hope that McCain’s followers are in the minority, and that they will be seriously disappointed come November.

McCain and Palin should both be ashamed for using such hateful and false rhetoric that fuels ignorance and bigotry.One can only hope that McCain’s followers are in the minority, and that they will be seriously disappointed come November.